Sukh Ram gets 5 yrs in jail

The 86-year-old was on Thursday convicted of taking Rs 3 lakh as bribe to award a contract to a private telecom firm.

A special CBI court on Saturday sentenced former telecom minister Sukh Ram to five years rigorous imprisonment in a 1996 corruption case. The 86-year-old was on Thursday convicted of taking Rs 3 lakh as bribe to award a contract to a private telecom firm.

Though the sum may seem paltry when compared to other cases like the 2G spectrum scam,special CBI judge R P Pandey said the court could not show leniency. The court cannot remain oblivious to the factum of shaken public confidence in the efficacy of law to deal with corruption particularly when it is the question of tackling the corruption cases of high ranking public servants such as ministers…, the judge said in his order.

Sukh Ram was also directed to pay a cumulative fine of Rs 4 lakh.

The judge took a strong view of the offence,invoking Kautilyas writings while deliberating on the quantum of sentence. I find wisdom in Kautilyas philosophy whoever imposes severe punishment becomes repulsive to people while he who awards mild punishment becomes contemptible. The ruler just with the rod is honoured.

A former minister in the PV Narasimha Rao government,Sukh Ram will be lodged in Tihar prison where he will join another former telecom minister,A Raja,in jail no 1. As the sentence exceeds three years,he will not be eligible for statutory bail from the trial court and is likely to move the Delhi High Court next week.

The court had earlier held Sukh Ram guilty of misusing his position to award a Rs 30-crore contract to a private firm,Haryana Telecom Limited,in exchange for a bribe.

His counsel sought leniency for his client,saying he was suffering from age-related ailments and had lost his wife. The CBI prosecutor,however,termed Sukh Ram a habitual offender.

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In 2009,he was held guilty in a disproportionate assets case while in 2002,he was awarded a three-year jail term in a case relating to equipment supply that resulted in Rs 1.66 crore loss to the state exchequer. In both,he was granted statutory bail.

Assault on court premises

Minutes after the judge ordered his arrest,Sukh Ram was attacked by an unarmed man in the Rohini courts complex while being escorted out by the police. The assailant,Harvinder Singh,tried to kick the former minister. He was taken into custody by the police after being beaten up by some persons accompanying Sukh Ram. Court staff said the man was mentally unstable.